PINE GROVE — The drop in the average price of gas due to the coronavirus outbreak and an international dispute has some area residents thrilled, and analysts predict the price will continue to drop.

According to AAA, the national average for regular gas dropped below $2 for the first time in four years, with the average cost being $1.99 per gallon as of Tuesday. Agency officials expect the price to drop further to $1.75 or lower this month. The average price Wednesday was $1.98 per gallon.

The decline is attributed to the effect of coronavirus on the global economy and a dispute over the price of crude oil between Russia and Saudi Arabia, which started March 8. It was triggered by a breakup in dialogue between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, and Russia on proposed oil production cuts during the coronavirus pandemic.

The price of crude oil dropped to $20 per barrel, they note, with West Texas Intermediate crude averaging $56 per barrel.

Agency officials forecast that motorists will see cheaper gas prices for “the foreseeable future” until crude oil prices and demand for gas increase.

The $1.98 per gallon average price Wednesday is 46 cents lower than it was a month ago, when gas averaged $2.44 a gallon, and 71 cents lower than it was a year ago, when the average price was $2.69 per gallon.

In Pennsylvania, the average price is $2.20 as of Wednesday, with Schuylkill County’s price being $2.18, according to AAA. Gas is cheaper in some parts of the county than others. At Barrs Sunoco on Route 443 in Pine Grove Township, the average price of regular gas was $2.

“I enjoy it,” Kasey Galbally, of Syracuse, New York, said while filling his blue pickup truck at the pump. “It’s definitely a boon with everything that’s going on.”

Galbally stopped at the station Wednesday while traveling from Charleston, South Carolina, back to New York. He said he saw gas 10 to 15 cents cheaper in the south than it is in Pennsylvania. South Carolina is one of 29 states where the average price of gas is lower than $2, with South Carolina’s state average being $1.74 on Wednesday.

GasBuddy.com lists some of the lowest gas prices in Schuylkill County as low as $1.94 in Hometown, $1.96 in Coaldale and $1.99 in Tamaqua and McAdoo. Gas prices averaged $2.25 in Frackville and Shenandoah, $2.21 in Minersville and $2.14 in Schuylkill Haven. The site Wednesday recorded the cheapest gas in the state at $1.55 in Whitehall, Lehigh County.

Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for the site, said in a news release last Friday the prices have continuously dropped nationwide since Feb. 20. The drops have been so fast, he added, that “it could take gas stations weeks to pass along lower prices.”

The last time the price of gas was below $2 was in 2016, caused by a crash in the oil market, DeHaan said. From January to March that year, the average price was $1.99, with the lowest price being $1.66 per gallon in February 2016.

Bonnie Aungst, of Pine Grove, said she came to the Sunoco on Route 443 as gas at the station is 15 cents cheaper than elsewhere, putting a sock on her hand to put the nozzle into her car tank. She said she was elated at the low prices.

“When was the last time we’ve seen this price,” she said as she filled her Jeep Cherokee. “It’s been a while.”

Aungst added that she will continue to come to the station “as long as it stays cheaper.”

Nearby, Karl Baldauf, of Suedberg, said the low prices have been “great,” adding that “it’s a boon.”

At another pump, Dave Eckert, of New Philadelphia, disagreed with how cheap gas has become, stating that it is still 80 cents too high.

“The Russians are fighting with the Saudis, that’s why the price is down,” he said. “It’s flooding the market.”

Jeanette Casselano, a AAA spokeswoman, said in a statement Tuesday agency officials expect the price of gas to keep going down as “cheap crude combines with the realities of people staying home and less demand for gas.”

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.